Elk are also called wapiti, a Native American word that means "light-colored deer." Elk are related to deer but are much larger than most of their relatives. A bull (male) elk's antlers may reach 4 feet (1.2 meters) above its head, so that the animal towers 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall.
Bull elk lose their antlers each March, but they begin to grow them back in May.
In early summer, elk migrate to high mountain grazing grounds where the cows (females) will give birth. Each cow typically has a single calf, which can stand by the time it is 20 minutes old.
In the winter, wapiti move into larger herds, though males and females typically remain separate. The herds return to lower valley pastures where elk spend the season pawing through snow to browse on grass or settling for shrubs that stand clear of the snow cover.
Elk are also called wapiti, a Native American word that means "light-colored deer." Elk are related to deer but are much larger than most of their relatives. A bull (male) elk's antlers may reach 4 feet (1.2 meters) above its head, so that the animal towers 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall.
Bull elk lose their antlers each March, but they begin to grow them back in May.
In early summer, elk migrate to high mountain grazing grounds where the cows (females) will give birth. Each cow typically has a single calf, which can stand by the time it is 20 minutes old.
In the winter, wapiti move into larger herds, though males and females typically remain separate. The herds return to lower valley pastures where elk spend the season pawing through snow to browse on grass or settling for shrubs that stand clear of the snow cover.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/elk.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cervus_elaphus.html
http://www.rmef.org/AllAboutElk/
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/elk.aspx